Egypt Court Delays Contested Ruling

Protests Lead Top Tribunal to Put Off Decree on Constitutional Panel's Legitimacy, Escalating Fight; 'Dark Day' for Judiciary

By

Sam Dagher

Updated Dec. 2, 2012 7:25 p.m. ET

CAIRO—President Mohammed Morsi's battle with Egypt's judiciary and opposition groups escalated Sunday as hundreds of his Islamist supporters besieged the country's highest court to prevent it from ruling on the legitimacy of a panel that created a draft constitution.

The court said it was suspending its sessions until the safety of its judges and personnel can be guaranteed.

The rising tensions come after Mr. Morsi set a mid-December date for a referendum on the contested constitution, which contains several references to Islamic Shariah law, as both sides showed no sign of backing down.

ENLARGE

Morsi backers surrounded the Supreme Constitutional Court on Sunday. Later, a judges' group said it would boycott a constitutional referendum.
Associated Press

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Later on Sunday, the board of the Judges' Club, the largest association of judges, held a meeting at which they agreed not to participate in the constitution's referendum, according to its chairman Ahmed el-Zind.

"It is a very dark day in the history of the Egyptian judiciary," the Supreme Constitutional Court said.

The developments represent the latest installment in Mr. Morsi's standoff with the judiciary and the opposition. The divisions are seen by many as the gravest threat to Egypt's fragile democratic transition since street protests toppled former strongman Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 in one of the most closely watched uprisings of the "Arab Spring."

"Egypt on the brink of a volcano," said a Sunday headline in Al-Masry al-Youm, one of the country's main dailies.

The latest wrangling began on Nov. 22, when Mr. Morsi issued an edict which, among other things, shielded all his decisions and the Islamist-dominated panel drafting the constitution known as the Constituent Assembly from judicial review. The assembly last week rushed to approve a constitution in a marathon session, despite a boycott by more than a quarter of its members representing secular groups and churches in Egypt.

The assembly's chairman handed Mr. Morsi the final draft of the constitution in a televised ceremony on Saturday, during which the president announced a Dec. 15 date for the referendum as hundreds of thousands of his Islamist supporters rallied in Cairo. Most were bused in from the provinces.

Secular and liberal parties in the opposition, as well as youth movements and others, have rejected the draft constitution and Mr. Morsi's edict. They view the moves as a blatant attempt by Islamist parties, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, to implement their Islamic agenda and consolidate their hold on power in the Arab world's most populous and strategic state.

Siding with the opposition groups are a majority of the country's judges, many of whom were appointed by Mr. Mubarak's regime and who have been on strike since Nov. 25 to protest Mr. Morsi's edict.

For their part, both Mr. Morsi and his Islamist allies see the opposition's stance as a conspiracy—fueled by former regime loyalists and businessmen, corrupt judges and unnamed foreign states—to undermine the president and his government, who were the product of what they say was "the fairest election" in the country's history.

So far, the anti-Morsi camp has remained firm in its opposition. "We are sending a final warning to Dr. Mohammed Morsi who was elected as a legitimate and democratic president of the country that his legitimacy is eroding and diminishing with his policies and actions that are biased toward his party and group," said a statement issued by 18 secular and liberal parties as well as youth movements that played a pivotal role in the anti-Mubarak uprising.

The signatories said they were organizing a large demonstration dubbed "the last chance" outside the presidential palace on Tuesday to pressure Mr. Morsi to rescind last month's decree and postpone the referendum on the constitution. The groups say the document is illegitimate because, they say, it was drafted and rushed through by an Islamist-led body that doesn't reflect Egyptian society's ideological diversity.

The same groups have threatened civil disobedience across the country if Mr. Morsi doesn't respond to their demands this week.

"We cannot have a referendum on it [the constitution] because there has been no dialogue about it," said Mohsen Ibrahim, 45 years old, a florist who is among the hundreds of people who have camped in Cairo's central Tahrir Square for more than 10 days to protest Mr. Morsi's edict. "It's full of nails and land mines."

In his speech at Saturday's ceremony, Mr. Morsi recognized the deep polarization in the country and called on his opponents for "a serious national dialogue about the nation's worries." But he also reiterated his determination to press ahead with the referendum.

"This responsibility makes it imperative in front of God, you, the Egyptian nation and the world that I forge ahead and not hesitate to carry out the will of this nation," Mr. Morsi said.

The president and his Islamist allies, especially the Muslim Brotherhood he once led, are banking on their grass-roots support across Egypt and a highly organized party machine to win approval for the referendum, which they have estimated at 70%. If it fails, Mr. Morsi will have to call for the formation of a new Constituent Assembly to produce another draft.

Driving the pro-Morsi camp is also a belief that former regime loyalists, including those in the judiciary, are determined to turn back the clock to the Mubarak era and deny Islamists their legitimate win.

This was evident in the speeches made by Islamist politicians and clerics on Saturday at their rally outside Cairo University's main campus, branding opposition leaders, the media and some judges as "enemies of Egypt."

The same atmosphere prevailed Sunday among those surrounding the Supreme Constitutional Court building in Cairo's Maadi neighborhood. Many had spent the night on the court's lawn and marble entrance, sleeping on blankets and cardboard cutouts, as riot police stood nearby to prevent them from storming the building.

"This court is the claw of the conspiracy," said Hatem Heikal, 55, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

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